Life

Thoughts on the Creative Process

This morning I revisited a creation that I began work on a few years ago and it got me thinking about my creative processes. Some creations emerge with such certainty, that they can be created the day the inspiration for them arrives. Other creations unravel at a much slower pace, the inspiration for them ebbs and flows. At times I lose sight of it altogether. Sometimes I walk with creations throughout a season, sometimes longer. I may take a break from them, allowing them to rest before hearing their whispers to meet again.

I guess I often favoured the experience of the rapid creative process because it feels productive and exciting to have such clarity about something I must create. I would go as far as saying that when I don’t experience that clarity I question whether I have enough passion for what I’m creating, whether I should carry on or let it fade away.

Today I returned to an incense blend that I have been working on (and off) for over a year. As I lost myself in its aroma I recognised the beauty in the slow unravelling of creations. The richness that comes from meeting an idea in a different space to the one that it was formed. The depth that travelling through the seasons with a creation brings, as we grow beside it.

Until today I had met the slow emergence of Spring with some frustration but was able to find some appreciation for the slower unfoldings that can be steeped in depth and richness too. Perhaps that is my lesson, from this slow to unfold Spring.